Association between Maternal Anthropometry and Neonatal Birth Weight among Women Who Came for Delivery in a Tertiary Health Facility, South East Nigeria

Background: Birth weight has been identified as one of the most significant predictors of a child’s physical growth, development, and survival in later life. A quest to provide an answer on the impact of maternal anthropometry on neonatal birth weight necessitated this study. Materials and methods: It is a cross-sectional descriptive hospital based study that involved 130 participants selected using a systematic sampling method, utilizing a semi-structured, pre-tested interviewer administered questionnaire. Data were collected using a standard procedure and were summarized using proportions, and the Chi square test was used to explore the association between categorical variables. Predictors of birth weight were determined using logistic regression. The level of statistical significance was set at p < 0.05. Results: Participants had a mean age of 28.6 ± 5.1 years, mean weight of 72.2 ± 11.2 kg and mean height of 1.63 ± 0.07m while the mean fetal birth weight was 3.10 ± 0.56 kg. There was a significant association between maternal delivery body mass index and neonatal birth weight (p < 0.001). The maternal delivery weight had a significant moderate correlation with neonatal birth weight (r = 0.45, p < 0.005) while maternal height had a significantly weak correlation with neonatal birth weight (r = 0.36, p < 0.002). The maternal age ≥35 years (p < 0.01), parity (p < 0.02) and body mass index (p = 0.01) were predictors of neonatal extreme birth weight. Conclusion: The prevalence of low birth weight and macrosomia in this study population was high. The focus should be geared towards balanced nutrition support for all mothers at booking so as to mitigate the risks associated with these extremes of birth weight.